Power Outage
by Sophia2K
Summary: Featherweight Mirandy fluff. Sat in her new workplace one evening, Andy finds herself with a slight case of TMFT and helps herself to some Miranda-related daydreaming. She starts scribbling some featherweight Mirandy fluff on her laptop when things take an odd turn. My first attempt at impromptu style writing based on a single funny idea. Had a lot of fun writing it
1. Chapter 1

**POWER OUTAGE**

 _Featherweight Mirandy fluff. Sat in her new workplace one evening, Andy finds herself with a slight case of TMFT and helps herself to some Miranda-related daydreaming. She starts scribbling some featherweight Mirandy fluff on her laptop when things take an odd turn._

Andy had one special, super urgent assignment for tonight. She was to tell the world about the miraculous recovery of their seriously ill senior editor, Greg. Andy herself had been in tears more than once since she'd heard about Greg's fatal-sounding diagnosis. The news of his remission took everybody by surprise earlier today! Champagne was promptly popped and various other drinks liberally taken. It was their huge, collective, emotional sigh of relief. Greg was, like, the nicest guy anybody ever had the good fortune to meet, talk to, or work with.

Andy furtively wiped off a few tears. She saw one drunk colleague after another take leave. Of course. She, single Andy, of course, had the honor of crafting the joyous news into a decent, coherent article. Totally glad to do it. But as silence and darkness fell upon the friendly, shabby office space, she was quick to develop second thoughts.

M … I … R … A …

She began typing the sensational title for their good news. "Miraculous remission"? "Recovery by miracle"? She knew how to tweak words and pump up stories. She kind of felt the emotions of readers before publication, and she almost always got the public reaction she had been going for. Andy Sachs was a natural. But where were _her_ good news? She wanted to break the good news to a special someone. Break the news, pop a bottle of nice booze, kiss her senseless,

 _Her?_

Andy blushed. Her fingers took independent action and completed the word on the laptop screen:

 _M … I … R … A … N… D… A_

"Oh hell", she breathed.

She furiously tried to use the backspace button. Make that cursed name disappear, letter by letter. She didn't love that woman, she hated that woman and made sure to distance herself from her, every single day of her post-Runway life, she made so much effort to just not invoke Miranda's memory back into her life-

 **KZZZZZTTTT-FLICKER-KZZZZZZZZTTTT**

Oh great. The scary sounds and dense blackness around her confirmed a power outage. A surprise, really, that it didn't happen more often in this ancient building!

Her laptop was now the only source of light and power. All powered up to 98%, good to go for anouther few hours.

 _M … I … R … A … N… D… A_

\- said the screen adamantly.

"Fine", she breathed. "Wanna play, bitch? Let's play. "

Andy was thinking hard. The streets around her had blackened as if by design, as if to give her creative thoughts free access to any sort of wild course. She typed on.

" _Miranda Priestly just up and left her posh office. Alone in the dark evening, she took off to meet her long-lost ex-assistant Andy"_

Andy had to laugh out loud at this part. Yeah, like *this* would ever happen, ever!

" _Miranda instructed her patient, steady-faced driver Roy to wait outside Andy's office building"_

" _and she had to brave the stairs as the power was out. She took off her heels and went barefoot."_

Andy laughed heartily as she imagined the elegant lady scaling the stairs barefoot. She felt energized enough to continue her impossible little story:

" _Miranda had carefully memorized Andy's new workplace, so she quietly opened the lobby door on Floor 7."_

Andy chose to listen out for a door slamming down the corridor.

*SLAM.*

"What the f-!" Andy breathed.

\- TO BE CONTINUED -


	2. Chapter 2

The sound died away on the corridor.

 _"_ Stupid girl," Andy snapped at herself. "Just erase this stuff and get back to work!"

Yeah. One little problem, the backspace button seemed to have started this power outage mess. Her finger hovered over the innocent looking button. Something Greg always laughed at her for. She never went CTRL+A and DEL on any of her drafts. Backspace it was. Andy wasn't one to erase any memory in a single move. She preferred slowly moving backwards, hoping that the story would improve itself upon slow amputation, perhaps? And it usually did. Greg lovingly nicknamed Andy 'zero-garbage girl' for this slow-editing quirk.

Oh, but the creative devil was all juiced up inside her tonight. Her finger moved away from Backspace.

" _Miranda felt a strange pang of fear. It was odd enough to act on impulse and rush off to see Andrea Sachs. What was she doing in this semi-defunct joke of a building, for goodness' sake? She cleared her throat nervously."_

Andy couldn't help but smile. Yeah, this was Miranda Priestly, Her Majesty of the United Control Freakdom. Never one to show weakness. Yet she always used to call out for Andy's help…

"Speak up, Miranda," Andy murmured as she typed on:

" _She saw a faint bluish light, probably that of a laptop, through a glass door. Miranda decided to call out for Andrea._

 _'Andrééééa!' she said, raising her professional voice."_

Andy waited, barely noticing how both her hands trembled above the keyboard. Please. Let there be no sound. Please let there be light and sanity.

"Andrééééa!" the familiar voice struck her, much closer to her office than she pictured in her fanfic.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Andy hissed and sprung up in panic. First instinct: hide under desk. Subtle, mature, professional move indeed. Andy fought the urge. "Sit back down girl, you're losing it. Never mix your drinks again, never, ever, okay?"

The door creaked right across from her desk. She squinted and saw nothing in the dark, nothing but a silvery patch floating mid air. She knew all too well what it was. Miranda's beautiful hair.

"Mir… Miranda? Is that you?"

The silvery patch floated on, just like Andy had seen it float a million times in panicky mornings when everyone inside Runway tried to gird their loins as the silver empress floated past them. The same rush of terror and amazement overcame Andy now. She almost forgot how sexy this sensation was.

"Correct, Andrea" came the icy response. "I demand to know what is going on!"

"Er… so do I, Miranda!" Andy said quickly. "I'm here overtime, working on an edito-"

"Oh shut up!" the silvery patch hissed, uncomfortably close to her desk now. "There's some weirdness going on here and I don't like it!"

Andy swallowed hard to stop her wild heart jumping up and out from her throat.

"I don't think you should be here, er, there's a power outage and I still need to work, but it's not safe for you here in the dark –"

No response.

"…er, um, Miranda, " Andy finished eloquently.

"I'll live," Miranda said. An uneasy silence fell between them.

"Oo-kkay, " Andy continued in her best good girl tone, "What can I do for you, Miranda?"

The silver empress made no response. She had the great advantage of seeing Andy's openly-emotional, screen-lit face. But Andy suddenly remembered her own advantage: she had the keyboard and the creative license to build her story. She decided to carry on. Clock was ticking but Miranda's stubborn silences usually lasted a half-minute. How should she twist the story, quickly? She typed on,

" _Miranda's features softened. She couldn't help it and blurted something out,_

 _'I came here because I love you.'_ "

Andy stared at the screen in pure horror. What did she just do? Holy Mackerel, is she going to be in trouble!

"I came here because I love you, " she heard her own script back. Miranda's voice was very out of character, soft and shaky.

"O-oh, uh, er…" Andy squeaked.

She heard a loud bang on the desk and some furious hissing. Uh-oh, the unscripted Miranda was back!

"Andrea, disregard my previous comment! I am not sure what sort of witchcraft is going on, but I shall not take any more of it! Good luck with your pathetic little career and I never want you in my office again! Get out before I…"

Andy risked a short but pertinent remark,

"Miranda, _you_ are in _my_ office. "

The silver patch seethed in anger – surely, the perfect lips pursed in the process, too – and before Andy could do anything else, Miranda stormed out. No clacking sound marked her steps. She must have still been barefoot to avoid an accident.

Andy sat agape.

"This isn't happening."

The little lights on her laptop seemed to wink at her playfully. Her fingers returned to the keyboard but at that moment,

 **FLICKER-FLICKER**

power was back on.

 _CHAPTER 3 COMING SOON – NO IDEA WHERE THE STORY IS HEADED BUT HOPE Y'ALL ARE ENJOYING IT AS MUCH AS I AM, STAY TUNED_ _J_


	3. Chapter 3

When the first morning lights made their usual trip up the old building's walls and into the shabby offices, they were no doubt very surprised to hit a live object. A very asleep, moderately hungover brunette was hunched over her laptop. The rosy lights surrounded her peace while they could.

Soon, Andy's colleagues were flocking back into work. To be perfectly honest, nobody was in much fitter shape than Andy herself. They had to down a couple of coffees before they noticed Andy's dire situation. A few „Oh gosh I'll never drink again" vows were murmured over those coffees. The headaches, oversleeps, blurred visions and casual one-night hookups were as bad as if somebody had spiked their drinks the day before. Scott, for example, had hooked up with Jeanine last night. He deeply regretted the move and decided to avoid Jeanine now by quickly asking Andy (whom he really fancied but never had the nerve to ask out) how the editorial was coming along.

"Hey! Sleeping Beauty!" he tapped Andy's shoulder. Andy snored in reply. "Wake up Andy, you're in deep sh-"

At this moment, Greg strolled in with a big smile on his face.

The whole office went up in a roar of celebration. As all of them swarmed around Greg, they barely noticed how pale and thin he still was from those months of illness and invasive therapy. But the warmth and the little smile were back on his face.

"All right all right all right, " he struggled his way out of all the hungover hugs, "I need to be in my office now! Somebody wake up and send in Andy, okay? "

It was a team effort. The women of the pack gently slapped and wet facial wiped Andy to consciousness while the males went hunting for fresh coffee and some high-calorie snack. Andy was a very anti-morning person as they knew. Five minutes on, she was relatively awake and prepped to visit Greg.

"Grrrrrwhahello-" Andy murmured to Scott, the one who volunteered to stand her up and launch her toward the editor's office.

"Andy! Wake up and act sober for gossakes" Scott pleaded. "Greg's back and he already wants to see you. "

"Huh? Whapfffff - ouch" Andy replied as her left knee banged against something sharp and heavy. "Leave me… leave me here to dieeeee. "

"Fat chance, Sachsie, " Scott laughed. "You're on!"

Andy was thus pushed into Greg's office and left to her own devices.

She slumped into a chair.

"Hi Andy, " Greg beamed. "Rough night? "

"Aaaargh. You have NO IDEA, " she replied. "So sorry, Greg – I mean, so happy to see you – you're alright now, promise? "

"I'm doing my best, things are looking up, " Greg reassured. "But… I've had some bad feelings about you working so late. "

"Huh? " Andy's hangover replied. She was half-asleep again.

"So, there was this power outage? "

Andy's intoxication was gone in an instant. She sat up and stared guiltily at her boss.

"What? How did you know? "

Greg opened his laptop and started typing.

"I just know stuff, " came his casual reply. "You know, don't worry about that editorial, Andy. Scott will be glad to write it, I'm sure he wants to keep busy this morning. Let me PM him on this assignment" Greg typed in the PM and let Andy bury her face in her hands.

"So sorry, Greg! Things got weird and I think – I think I just slept on the job. "

"Nevermind, I said, " Greg said. His tone suddenly carried an intensity which made Andy listen extra hard. "I want to see you happy at last, Andy. "

"Excuse me? " the young brunette was blushing now. She always knew Greg was a gifted empath, but this conversation was getting very personal very fast, even for Greg. Then, she had a terrible thought. "Are you firing me? "

Greg suddenly roared with laughter.

"My dear girl, why would I do that? Maybe to escort you back to Runway? " he winked.

Andy's blush was now a deep crimson creeping down her neck.

"What are you getting at? " she squeaked.

Greg started typing again. Andy observed him with very mixed feelings. Then, she felt a strange sensation overcome all her normal mixed feelings. It was as if, suddenly, she was thrust onto a stage, standing in the limelight - and she was perfectly in the zone, in character, it was her cue and she knew exactly what to say.

"I'm in love with Miranda, " she heard these words fly out of her mouth.

Greg slowly smiled and nodded.

"WHAT? " Andy sprung up and screamed so loud that Scott and the rest of the pack peeped in worriedly. Maybe Sachsie was in real trouble now?

"GREG? "

"Yes, Andy? " Greg's smile was visibly scream-proof.

"Why did I just say something like this to you? "

"Well, why did you, darling? "

Andy's mixed feelings were back with a vengeance. She had a terrible hunch.

"Greg, " she said with high caution for every word she uttered, "I feel violated. Something weird is going on here! "

Without further ado, she leaped across the small room behind Greg and stared onto his laptop screen before he could shut it. And there it was: a script of their talk, eeriely similar to the fanfic she had been scribbling last night!

" ' _I'm in love with Miranda,' Andy said in a small voice._ "

These were the final words in Greg's script.

"What in the…?" Andy whispered and grabbed Greg by the shoulders. "Tell me what's going on, Greg!"

"All right, " the older man complied. "I think you deserve the truth. I'd like to pass on something ancient and important to you Andy. It can fix almost anything in your life. Listen carefully! "

 _CHAPTER 4 COMING SOON WITH *PLENTY* OF MIRANDA HILARITY AS REQUESTED ;)_


	4. Chapter 4

Later that day in another part of town, a more polished pack of journalists were trying their best to keep up with hitherto unexplored levels of weirdness. Miranda Priestly had recently arrived – and what an entry it had been!

"Nobody has ever seen her like this, " Emily whispered. She shushed the new Andy – a plain jane named Joanna – before she could speak her mind.

Joanna's mouth was hanging open. Very unsightly, Emily judged, if understandable, given the circumstances.

The facts were these: Miranda Priestly, famed fashion empress, had only just trudged into her headquarters at 12.30. Yes, she trudged not floated. Midday not morning. On top of that, Miranda was wearing an unimaginable, disastrous, fugly set of LEISURE clothes. And she was muttering to herself.

Emily was the first to recover from the shock. She jumped up to get Miranda's jacket. A retro black pleather nightmare not even an aging Elvis impersonator would choose to wear, but today, it hung from Miranda Priestly's back.

"Um- Miranda, you're scheduled to have a meeting with -" Emily started, trying hard not to stare at Miranda's out-of-bed hair and sorely makeup free face. It was like a movie… a horror movie.

"Nooo I'm NOT!" Miranda parroted Scarlett O'Hara's famous words with similar catty fervor.

"But…"

"Get me Andrea Sachs! NOW! " Miranda yelled.

Emily ran to comply. Of course, Andrea again, that treacherous little pet of Miranda's. Emily was not a stupid girl, she recognized Miranda's pet favorites. Because that's who she always wanted to be but never quite managed. Andrea, though, was a dark horse favorite whom not even Emily could resist. Andy had found her way into everybody's heart and then, poof she disappeared. There's a major head-scratcher, Emily concluded.

"Why on Earth does Miranda want her here?" she muttered, frantically fishing for Andy's contact. "Joanna, get me Andrea Sachs!" she hissed across the room.

"Who? " a bewildered Joanna asked.

"Knock-knock! Are you deaf? I said, get me Andrea…"

"… Sachs." said a soft voice in the doorway. Andy stood there. Just like one of those Harry Potter characters who touch a portkey and go places. Well, damn, what a coincidence!

"Andy Sachs!..." Emily was lost for words.

"The one and only," Andy smiled. Her face was a bit pale with some smudged eye mascara, but even so, she looked lovely.

"Hm! It's just as well, " Emily recovered. "As long as you're here, Miranda wants to see you. "

The three girls took a moment to peek into Miranda's office. The Dragon Lady paced there like a caged tiger.

"Good luck, " Joanna managed a faint smile.

"Oh shut up. Well, chop-chop Andrea!" Emily urged. Andy smiled back at both girls. She knew the kind of stress they had to endure day in day out. But that was going to change.

She confidently walked into the office.

"Hello, Miranda, nice to see you again! "

Miranda spun on her (flat) heels.

"Oh! As if! " she growled. "Close the damn door."

Andy did as she was told. Behind her cool front, she was desperate to keep Greg's instructions in mind. Greg had explained about the fanfic script thing which Andy barely followed. The gist was about creative power combined with great passion and an unresolved conflict, resulting in some Star Trekky energy lock between two people. The energy lock bound Greg and Andy together when Greg thought he was going to die and fervently started looking for a daughter figure. Greg had passed on the scriptwriting power to Andy, who in turn locked with Miranda, the object of her desire. What a shady business, Andy thought, a spiritual energy lock that caused electric power outages! Eek. But Greg had been clear: resolving conflict with Miranda was an absolute first priority for Andy.

"Here we go, " she sighed.

The Dragon Lady seemed ready to spit fire on her general surroundings.

"It is anything BUT nice to see me, Andrea. I am not fit to look at, and I have a dark suspicion it's thanks to YOU!" Miranda heaved.

"I like the way you look today," Andy smiled.

"Do you, now?" Miranda's hair and outfit did not improve on second look and she knew that. The pain was almost physical.

"You look lovely to me," Andy affirmed. Her velvety voice took Miranda off guard, the lady almost blushed.

She had to sit on her expensive glass desk. Andy's eyes traveled freely on her jumper-clad figure and Miranda felt naked under that look. How idiotic! All these idiotic feelings, really, taking hold of her! Shame! The room heated up and she suddenly felt sweaty under her zipped-up gray tracksuit top.

"Stop that nonsense, Andrea. I'm either suffering some psychotic episode, or there's black magic involved. I… *I*! personally mail-ordered THIS shirt and put it on today! LOOK! "

Miranda ripped off her tracksuit top to reveal a T-shirt that said,

SORRY I'M SUCH A BITCH

She stood with her arms stretched and waited for Andy's laughter.

"Well?!" she urged.

Andy bit her lips because the scene was very very funny. But she managed to hold the laughter back.

Instead, she stepped over to Miranda and took her by the shoulders very gently.

"Let's see the back of the thing. "

Miranda was numb enough to cooperate. She turned awkwardly. The back of her tee said, in proud bold script,

I NEED A HUG

"I love this shirt! " Andy whispered.

Her hands still rested on Miranda's shaking shoulders.

"Don't you DARE hug me" Miranda hissed.

 _CHAPTER 5 SOON :)_


	5. Chapter 5

No hugging took place. They both knew the assistants were watching. Andy let her hands rest lightly on the most beautiful pair of shoulders she's ever seen. Baby steps, she said to herself. At least Miranda didn't shrug her off.

"I know a way out of this, Miranda. I can make this go away. "

Andy's words sounded just as self-assured as they were meant to reassure. Miranda wasn't sure whether to feel irked or relieved. She felt so much better with Andrea around, there was simply no denying that.

"I'm in pain," the lady fessed up. "There is something… there _has_ _been_ something massively off recently. I have not been myself. Nobody to… nobody to discuss things with… wild thoughts… foot in the mouth moments piling up… zone-outs in the middle of business. Horrible. I have been losing sleep. And then, all this nonsense. This isn't ME, Andrea!"

"I'm here to help, Miranda. You do realize I know you better than anyone else. " Andy herself raised an eyebrow at her sudden self-confidence. Greg has obviously not stopped scripting her words, they had had a small agreement that he'd go on scripting Andy's lines – but not Miranda's – during this office meeting. After that, Andy was to take full control. She had to admit, the wardrobe idea had been a brilliant one, especially the funny shirt was a game-changer.

"I don't want you, Andrea." Miranda's head hung low. "Hateful girl. You left me when I needed you the most. I trusted you so completely. I wanted us to rule the whole biz together. Look where it got me! "

"I'm sorry but I had to get my own footing in life. And you have to know, fashion will never really be my thing. But if it's any consolation, I fell for you even harder after I left y … after I left Runway. "

Andy's eyes widened. She hadn't plan to say this so bluntly, let alone in Miranda's steel and glass headquarters! But Greg was the unstoppable force behind this scene. He had always advised Andy to keep things simple, and by God he did.

"So, what is happening now, dear? Are you taming me?" Miranda tried to sound ironic but her soft, shaky voice was back.

"That's… one way of putting it. I just want to be a part of your life again because I desperately miss you. Take me back, and the weirdness will go away. Promise."

A low grunt was the response Miranda was capable of.

"Come on, let's get you home Miranda. We surely want that shirt of yours off. " Andy said, and she rolled her eyes immediately. "Gosh, Greg, that's overkill!"

"What's that?" Miranda asked weakly. "All right – take me home and just, just stay with me this time. And don't get your hopes up. I'm a bit of a difficult person."

Andy's lovely smile lit up. "I know, Miranda. You've been making that abundantly clear. And I love you for it even more."

She was so happy, and Miranda so out of sorts, that neither of them remembered to cover the troublesome shirt. As they made their way out, Emily and Joanna cast horrified looks at the front of Miranda's tee. If that was a shock, the back finished them off completely.

"Psssst… is this, like, the new trend? SORRY I'M A BITCH, I NEED A HUG shirts? " Joanna whispered. "I think it's so bold and fresh! Like, readers relate more to…"

"Joanna, you need to go extinct, " Emily snapped. She tried to wrap her head around today's crisis. "Actually, you need a drink and so do I. " she pulled out a bottle of Scotch.

In the meantime, Andy and Roy safely steered Miranda home. Roy the loyal chauffeur didn't blink nor comment at the sight of SORRY I'M A BITCH, I NEED A HUG.

As Andy helped her lady love out of the car, she turned to thank Roy.

"No problem Miss Andrea. Hug her plenty and don't run off on her again!"

"I'm here to stay, Roy," Andy winked. She also made a silent promise to hug Greg for all his good work. And, for putting love first.

THE END


End file.
